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The Heroes (film)
The Heroes is a 2007 American computer-animated adventure comedy-drama film produced by Blue Sky Studios as its fourth feature film and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is directed by Chris Wedge and co-directed by Carlos Saldanha from a story by Michael J. Wilson and features Margot Robbie (in her film debut), Ken Jeong, Rainn Wilson, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jenny Slate, Channing Tatum, Alicia Fox (in her film debut), and Kristin Chenoweth, with Mickey Rooney and Georgia Engel in supporting roles. In the film, an orphanage owner (Mickey Rooney) tells a story about two teens, named Kim and Jason, who lost their parents in a car accident, and also save a young magician's apprentice named Nicholas from an evil spirit's influence along with other new friends and the queen of the Forest of Feelings. Wedge began development of the film in 2003 after production had began on Robots (2005) and wrote the original story with Wilson to pitch it to Fox, with Berg writing the screenplay. Following Berg's first draft, Peter Ackerman was brought in to reconstruct the third act and add additional material, while the latter was selected to co-direct. David Newman composed the film's score. The film premiered on October 7, 2007, in Washington, D.C., and was released in North America on October 12, 2007. Another Fox/Blue Sky work, No Time for Nuts, played alongside the feature in theaters. It received universal acclaim from critics and was a box office success, grossing $435 million worldwide on its $60 million budget, it won a Golden Reel Award. The Heroes won the 2007 Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for Ken Jeong, for his voice performance as Jason, and was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille ''and Universal's ''Computeropolis 2. The film's success helped spawn an expanded franchise, with two sequels — 2012's The Heroes 2 and 2017's The Heroes 3 — a television series, and a fourth installment scheduled for release in June 2020. Plot The Cherrywoods are a middle-aged couple who run an orphanage. Mr. Cherrywood tells the orphans a story about two teens named Kim and Jason. In the story, Kim and Jason, two lonely orphaned children, lost their parents in a car accident. Glory and Bill introduce themselves and remind the teens of their ambitions, but neither of them are interested. At an amusement park, Chrissy spots a magician's apprentice named Nicholas. While unloading a trunk of goods for his master, the "Great Fettucini", Nicholas finds an old book with a diary-style lock. When he unlocks it, an evil spirit appears as a woman's face, and starts corrupting him. With his help, it lays waste to the park, and begins a quest to remove all caring from the world. Back at Glory's house, some of the other teens are working on their new invention: the Rainbow Rescue Beam, a portal that can send any one to Earth and back. They interfere with it and bring forth a group of unexpected visitors: Glory, Bill, Kim, and Jason. They introduce themselves to the teens, and give them a tour of their home. Chrissy returns on his now out of control Rainbow Roller just before a "Cloud Quake" caused by the spirit, which ruins their home. She informs the others of Nicholas' troubles on Earth. Using the Rainbow Rescue Beam, he sends Kim and Jason to the park, along with Glory and Bill. They end up in the Forest of Feelings when the portal malfunctions. From a nearby river, the rest of the bears begin searching for them aboard a cloud ship called the Cloud Clipper, leaving behind Maggie and the babies in their home. Within the Forest, the teens are introduced to the queen of the Forest of Feelings. Later on, the others discover more of these creatures. During their stay, the spirit attacks them in several disguises: a spearfish, tree, and eagle. After they defeat it, they venture back to Earth to save Nicholas from its influence. At the park, Nicholas obtains the ingredients for his spell against the children and the creatures. After he casts it, they and company engage in a long battle. They shoot beams of bright light on him, forming their "Stare"; the Cousins help with their "Call" – Maggie and Bill arriving in time to help after fixing the Rainbow Rescue Beam. As the creatures' power drains away, Nicholas and the spirit briefly regain control. After Kim and Jason assist him, he finally realizes his misdeeds. With Bill's help, he closes the spirit's face back into the book and saves himself, the park, and the world. He thanks the group and reunites with Fettucini, while Chrissy inducts the queen of the Forest of Feelings into a teenager, and Kim and Jason find new parents who take them to one of Nicholas' shows. As Mr. Cherrywood finishes his story, it is revealed that he is actually Nicholas and that his wife is actually Kim (though neither mentions what became of Jason). Cast : Main article: List of The Heroes characters :* Margot Robbie as Kim :* Ken Jeong as Jason :* Rainn Wilson as Nicholas :* Bryce Dallas Howard as Glory :* Jenny Slate as Chrissy :* Channing Tatum as Bill :* Alicia Fox as Maggie :* Kristin Chenoweth as Queen of the forest of feelings :* Mickey Rooney as Mr. Cherrywood :* Georgia Engel as Flo :* Jackie Burroughs as The Spirit Production Development Chris Wedge came up with the concept for The Heroes ''in 2000 during the production of ''Ice Age. He envisioned a story where the two main characters lost their trust in humanity and meet new friends when meanwhile an evil wizard wishes to cover the Earth in concrete. Wedge also took inspiration from the 1985 film The Care Bears Movie, where The Care Bears watch over a young brother and sister who have lost their trust in humanity. Meanwhile an evil wizard wishes to cover the Earth in concrete. Wedge began work on the film with Michael J. Wilson in 2003, shortly after Robots began production. By early 2004, Wedge had drafted a treatment with Wilson that bore some resemblance to the final film. Wedge and Wilson pitched the story to Blue Sky Studios through its feature animation division with some initial artwork in January that year. He and his story team left with some suggestions in hand and returned to pitch a refined version of the story in March. The film was originally developed under the title of Heroes, but was changed in order to distance it from the TV show with the same name. In addition to Heroes, other titles that had also been considered included Kim and Jason, Heroics, Teens ''and ''Teen Heroics, among others. In May 2004, the Los Angeles Times reported that Wedge was working on a then-untitled project that would eventually become The Heroes, albeit nothing else about the film was known at the time. In June 2004, Fox revealed the film's title to be The Heroes, then planned for a March 2007 release. In October 2005, production of the film officially began. Casting During the time, when Fox was looking for a younger actor for the voice role of Kim, Ariel Winter was considered for the character. She screen tested for the role and was interested, but when Chris Wedge was unable to make contact with him, he took it as a "no". In addition to Winter, Miranda Cosgrove, was also considered for the role of Kim. Wedge took the role to Margot Robbie, and she accepted. For the role of Jason, Nicolas Cage, Michael Keaton, Bobby Campo and James Franco were considered, but Ken Jeong won the role for his natural comedy. In January 2006, it was announced Robbie and Jeong were cast, along with other cast members including Bryce Dallas Howard, Jenny Slate, Channing Tatum, Alicia Fox, Rainn Wilson, and Kristin Chenoweth. Voice recording began in July 2006. Voice recording ended on November 2006. Animation The Heroes ''was animated in-house at Blue Sky Studios' headquarters in Greenwich, Connecticut. Music : ''Main article: The Heroes (film)/Soundtrack The music for The Heroes was composed by David Newman. The soundtrack album was released in CD format by Varèse Sarabande in the United States, and on Cherry Lane Records in the United Kingdom. Six songs were performed by Carole King, John Sebastian, NRBQ, and the Tower of Power; actor Harry Dean Stanton had a guest appearance as Brave Heart Lion for the song "Home is in Your Heart". The songs were produced by Lou Adler and John Sebastian, with additional lyrics and music by Ken Stephenson, Walt Woodward, and David Bird. Release In November 2006, before the film's completion, Carole MacGillvray offered The Heroes for consideration to major studios in the US. Since they did not see the financial potential in a picture aimed strictly at children, they declined the offer. MacGillvray told Adweek magazine in November 2007, "I made several trips, and I was really disappointed. They kept telling me things like 'Animated movies won't sell' and 'Maybe we'd consider it if you were Disney,' but most just said, 'You're very nice, good-bye.' " When few takers were left, she took it to 20th Century Fox. A newcomer in the independent market, it agreed to release the film. Comparing the title characters' appeal to Hollywood stars like Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, founder Chris Wedge remarked: "Having my two children, I know these bears are stars, too." The Heroes premiered in Washington, D.C., on October 7, 2007, as part of a Special Olympics benefit; Margot Robbie, Ken Jeong, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jenny Slate, Channing Tatum, Alicia Fox, Rainn Wilson, Mickey Rooney, Georgia Engel and Kristin Chenoweth, attended this event. The film opened on October 12, 2007, in the United States and Canada. The film is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for "mild action, rude humor and some thematic elements". When shown in theaters, the feature was immediately followed by an Ice Age short, No Time for Nuts, which was originally released on the home video release of Ice Age: The Meltdown and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. It was directed by Carlos Saldahna. The story involves Scrat having no time for nuts. 20th Century Fox premiered it on US television around the time of The Heroes' theatrical tenure; it got an extremely rare DVD release from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on December 11, 2007, and with a running time of 7 minutes, 28 seconds is considered likely one of the shortest DVDs ever made. On March 1, 2019, Fox and IMAX announced that the film would be reissued and digitally re-mastered for IMAX theaters (alongside its sequels, The Heroes 2 ''and ''The Heroes 3) ''using their DMR Technology in a triple feature for a one-day only, "Fan Event", on May 18. Marketing The film's advertising budget was US$65 million; ''Variety reported that "the beneficiaries of its merchandising tie-ins have earmarked remaining $20,000,000 to promo products in step with the film's release". For the film's promotion, Fox's staff partnered with Kenner Toys and fast food chains Burger King and Pizza Hut; there were also tie-ins on Trix cereal boxes. Parker Brothers published two tie-in books, Meet the Heroes and Keep On Caring, shortly after the film's release; both were reissued in May 2008 by Children's Press. Trailers * A teaser poster for the film was released on September 27, 2006. The film's official teaser trailer first debuted on October 3, 2006 on the home media release of Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, and was later shown in theaters with other films such as Flushed Away, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, Happy Feet, Night at the Museum, Bridge to Terbithia, TMNT,'' Meet the Robinsons'', Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colin Movie for Theaters, and Spider-Man 3. * The official theatrical trailer was released on May 18, 2007, and was shown with Shrek the Third, Surf's Up, Ratatouille, Computeropolis 2, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoniex, The Simpsons Movie, Underdog, Daddy Day Camp, and Mr. Bean's Holiday. The following month, TV spots were also aired. * There were a few television spots for the film; the first one was released in August 2007, the second one was released in September 2007, and the third one was released in October 2007. Video game Main article: The Heroes (2007 video game) A video game based on the film was released on October 2, 2007 on Xbox 360, Windows, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, and Game Boy Advance, as well as on mobile phones. This is the last Blue Sky Studios video game to be released on the GBA. Home media The Heroes was released in the United States on January 15, 2008, in DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray formats. All releases included a new animated short film titled Chrissy Time, which takes place after the events of the film. On March 10, 2008, it debuted in 26th place on Billboard's Top DVD Rentals chart. It ranked fourth on the first edition of the magazine's Top DVD chart (on June 5). It was tracked by Video Insider's family chart (on March 30, 2008), as one of five computer-animated film titles on DVD (along with the first two Ice Age films; Universal's Computeropolis 2; and the last with Shrek 2). By 2011, it sold over 140,000 copies. In 2012, Fox released it on Blu-ray 3D, coinciding with the release of The Heroes 2. In honor of the film's 10th anniversary, a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of the film was released on October 10, 2017 along with a 4K Ultra HD version of The Heroes 2, with a three-pack with all three movies releasing on November 14 of that year, the same day The Heroes 3 came out on DVD. 20th Century Fox launched an official anniversary website and a Dodge Grand Caravan giveaway as part of the proceedings. By 2018, home video sales of The Heroes sold over five million units. Television broadcasting Main article: The Heroes (film)/Television broadcast timeline The Heroes premiered on television on HBO on August 23, 2008 at 8:00 PM. It also aired on Cinemax in September 7, 2008, and on Showtime and The Movie Channel on October 12, 2008. The Heroes was scheduled to premiere on the US television network, FX, on December 28, 2009, but did so one month in advance. In April 2010, the film made its terrestrial broadcast premiere on the ABC network. It also aired on American Movie Classics in July 7, 2010, and on Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, Freeform, TBS, TNT, Disney XD, Discovery Family and Nickelodeon. The film aired on Starz Entertainment's Starz Encore channel in September 2017, as part of its "Big 2000's" Labor Day marathon, chronicling various releases from that decade. Reception Box office The Heroes ''opened on October 12, 2007, in North America. It got to earn $85,729,840 during its opening weekend, placing first in its box office during that weekend. By the end of its theatrical run on February 14, 2008, ''The Heroes ''grossed a total of $435.1 million worldwide, the fourth highest-grossing 2008 animated film behind ''Computeropolis 2, Ratatouille, and The Simpsons Movie. Critical reception The Heroes ''received widespread critical acclaim, becoming a cult hit among critics upon release. On the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 89% based on 169 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10, making it the highest-rated film to date produced by Blue Sky Studios. The site's critical consensus reads, "Having enough colorful animation, brilliant humor and action-packed scenes to compete with the likes of Pixar, ''The Heroes ''perfectly lives up to be a hit on its own." On Metacritic, it received a score of 91 out of 100, based on 73 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Peter Travers of ''Rolling Stone gave the film three out of four stars, saying "20th Centurty Fox's, The Heroes ''the whole family could enjoy the delightful addition to the company's other classics with non-stop humor." Richard Corliss of ''Time Magazine praised Ken Jeong's performance as Jason, stating that "it gets even funnier for his comic relief career that brings the well-known self for his life." Todd McCarthy of Variety liked the concept, also stating "As directed by Chris Wedge, The Heroes has a very engaging concept for a movie that makes up, and teams up, and saves the world." Jami Bernard of the New York Daily News described the film as "Toy Story meets The Care Bears Movie". Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film three out of four stars, saying that "The Heroes ''seems to duplicate the usual animation look of Ice Age, but has truly amazing action sequences, charm, wit, and humor with a host of quirky characters such as Kim and Jason." Charles Herold of ''The New York Times summed up his review stating that "The Heroes ''is not only a great kids movie, but it is an enthusiastic movie with perfect moments that live up to its plot as well as other Fox animated hits like ''Anastasia and Ice Age." Michael Blowen began his review of the film by stating that "it satisfies the primary obligation of a bedtime story—before it's half over the children will be fast asleep." He added that "this sugar-coated trifle could only satisfy the most ardent fan", and that "the characters themselves lack definition". The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said, "Who except a callous scrooge would carp about the fact that The Heroes espouses a psychopop philosophy of 'sharing our feelings' that seems drawn straight from the pages on one of those insufferable self-motivation tomes? No one, that's who." In the words of The Washington Post reviewer Paul Attanasio, "The best movies recognize the dark side of kids, their penchant for violence, their fearful fantasies. movie just patronizes them. It even has a child chortling, 'Aren't parents great!' Well, they are and they aren't, and kids know that." The animation in the film received positive reviews as well. Adele Freedman praised the style and backgrounds, and called the special effects "stunning". While complimenting it as "a harmless film diversion", Stephen Hunter said that "the movie has the lustrous, glossy look of the very best in children's book illustrations". "On the other hand," he added, "the producers obviously couldn't afford an expensive multiplane camera, the staple of the Disney product, and so the scenes have a depressing flatness to them. And the backgrounds, so brilliantly developed in Disney, tend to be blurry and hastily done." Jim Moorhead of Florida's The Evening Independent said, "Sky's animation is not the best. Far from it. Everything's in pastels, fine details are largely missing, mouth movements are minimal and the motions of the figures are scarcely better than some of those awful Saturday morning cartoons on TV." The staff at Variety magazine stated that the "style ... tends towards a primer reading level." Halliwell's Film Guide called it "sluggishly animated and narrated". As with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The New York Times' Janet Maslin found that the quality paled in comparison to Disney features (in this case, 1940's Pinocchio). The Los Angeles Times' Charles Solomon, and Michael Janusonis of Rhode Island's Providence Journal, faulted the plot. The Evening Independent's Moorhead and Jim Davidson of the Pittsburgh Press ''noticed at least two parallel storylines in the film, one of which involved the magician Nicholas. The National Coalition on Television Violence counted at least 20 acts of violence throughout the picture. The 2008 ''International Film Guide called it "an elementary piece of animation lacking colour and character, with not much humour, quite lacking in charm, and indifferently scored".Maltin gave it two stars out of four in his Movie Guide; similarly, the Gale Group publication, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever, gave it two bones out of four in its 2018 edition. According to Derek Owen of Time Out's Film Guide, "Adults forced to accompany eight-year-olds to the movie would have had a little moment of satisfaction". Allusions In his Christian Science Monitor review, David Sterritt observed that The Heroes was mostly influenced by The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a 1797 poem by German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, along with "a trace of H. P. Lovecraft "that probably wasn't intended". He went on to say, "I also noticed a subtle sexism at work. Why must it be the little girl Kim who dreams of being a nurse and the little boy Jason of being a jet pilot—and not the other way around, to stimulate young imaginations instead of echoing past patterns?" Blowen wrote that the two children both get turned "from cynics to idealists". Joe Fox of Ontario's The Windsor Star, and Stephen Hunter, compared the Bears' home of Care-a-lot to King Arthur's mythical castle of Camelot; Blowen commented that in this place, "altruism is king". Hunter noted that "the celestial physics are left vague", concerning Kim and Jason's trip from Care-a-lot to the Forest of Feelings. Critics compared at least two aspects of the film to Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: the Spirit received similarities to the Magic Mirror and the Wicked Queen, but Charles Solomon felt that the Bears lacked the individual qualities of the Dwarfs. Solomon noted that in animated features of that era, villains such as the Spirit "lacked motivation—if the viewer accepts their evil intentions, it's only because he's been told to". According to Tom Ogden (in his 2010 book Wizards and Sorcerers: From Abracabadra to Zoroaster), the Bears' Stare against the Spirit serves as a kind of white magic. "Such a non-violent solution," wrote Bruce Bailey in The Montreal Gazette, "should sit well with peace lobbyists". According to a 2015 article in The Times of London, an Internet reviewer called The Heroes" a fine example of Christian socialism". Accolades The Heroes won a Golden Reel Award and a Saturn Award for Best Animated Film. John Sebastian's "Nobody Cares Like a Teen" received a Grammy nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media; his performance was part of CBS's live telecast of the ceremony on February 10, 2008. The film received Best Animated Feature nominations at the 65th Golden Globe Awards, 13th Critics' Choice Awards and 80th Academy Awards, but lost all to Computeropolis 2 and Ratatouille. It was nominated for Best Animated Movie at the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards, but lost to both Ratatouille and Computeropolis 2 respectively. It was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film at the 61st British Academy Film Awards. Sequels : Main article: The Heroes (franchise) The Heroes ''was followed by two sequels: ''The Heroes 2 (2012) and The Heroes 3 (2017). While the first sequel received similar acclaim from critics, the third film, however, got some mixed reviews but was still a box office hit. A fourth film, titled The Heroes 4, is set for release on June 3, 2020. Spin-offs Manga : Main article: The Heroes (manga) Television series : Main article: The Heroes: Unlock the Magic! Holiday special : Main article: The Heroes Christmas Legacy In the words of Jerry Beck, "[The Heroes'] box-office gross signalled to Hollywood a renewed interest in animated features, albeit for children. This is something Ice Age tried to accomplish." A plethora of children's and family film entertainment followed in its wake, such as Bee Movie from DreamWorks Animation, and a 25th anniversary re-issue of Universal Studios' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Mentioning The Herpes as "the most recent example", Charles Solomon brought up the subject of feature-length film in an November 2007 interview on Los Angeles' KUSC-FM. He spoke to Simon J, Smith, who replied: "I feel that it's proper—after all, that's the way Computeropolis was written." In July 2008, Sarah Stiansen of United Press International (UPI) called The Heroes"another licensing innovation for Blue Sky", following the department's previous endeavours. UPI's Vernon Scott (in 2008), and Bruce A. Austin, observed how the merchandising arrived in advance of the film's release. The Heroes was parodied in "The 290th Episode Ever Made", a 2013 episode of Universal's animated series The Geo Team. In that episode, the Geo team goes to see 365 Days Saving the World.Category:Events Category:Templates Category:Template documentation Category:Items Category:Templates/Infobox Category:Templates/Navbox Category:EvanRocks Wiki